The newly formed Central Area Design Review Board will weigh in on the early plans for a project combining a hotel and microhousing on Broadway at Jefferson.
The project from Developer Brad Padden of Anew Apartments and the architects at Neiman Taber will take its first bow in front of the review board Thursday night at Washington Hall:
The new project above a planned two-story hotel below five stories of Small Efficiency Dwelling Units and congregate housing totaling 90 apartments. The development will not include parking for motor vehicles. The building will also include around 1,600 square feet of commercial space.
The development will replace the building home to Cedars restaurant in the 500 block of Broadway. Malik S. Khan opened the Seattle University location of his popular U- District restaurant in 2012 after buying the building for $1,445,000. Details of any sale agreement to Anew have not yet been made public.
The developers say the goal is to “create a fabric building that is responsive to context. It will be a simple, cohesive form that takes design cues from its surrounding uses, buildings, and cultural context.”
The Broadway project is part of twin developments in the area for Padden. The other project at 510 Broadway already underway is more typical of Padden and Anew with a 1908 unreinforced masonry building used for decades as a SRO “single room occupancy” style hotel being overhauled and converted into microhousing. Neiman Taber also designed the neighboring development.
CHS reported on a similar project from Padden after his purchase of the Summit Inn that updated the property and converted the apartment building into microhousing. The Summit Inn is now operated as a Common property under the New York-based development and management company that focuses on “private rooms within beautiful shared suites.”
The developer found less luck with his bid to execute a similar conversion of the Roy Vue apartment building. After considerable backlash, Anew dropped its plans for the building that is now an official city landmark.
The preferred scheme “C” for the design proposal would create “a resolved building mass with a defined podium and more generous upper level setback.” “The introduction of balconies provides the facade with texture and public way interaction,” the architects write. A top level deck would be located on the southeast of the building “for better access to light and views.”
The location of the proposed project previously was under the purview of the the East review board that had covered the Central District, Capitol Hill, First Hill, and nearby neighborhoods prior to the creation of the new Central Area board this year. “The creation of a Central Area Design Review District and Board will support equitable and inclusive community engagement and process specific for those most impacted by displacement, maximize the effectiveness of the Central Area Design Guidelines, and help guide future development to respond to the unique Central Area historical character and identity,” city officials have said. The new board was part of the decision in December to call back the Midtown: Public Square proposal for another round of review later this year.
PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
